Key for pin-tumbler locks.



PATENTED APR. 19, 1904.

W. H. TAYLOR. KEY FOR PIN TUMBLBR LOOKS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 22, 1903.

' N0 MODEL.

INVENTOR WITNESSES UNITED STATES Patented April 19, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

IVARREN H. TAYLOR, OF STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE YALE & TOIVNE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF STAMFORD, CON- NECTICUT.

KEY FOR PlN-TUMBLER LOCKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO. 758,025, dated April 19, 1904.

Application filed July 22,1903. Serial No. 166,626. (No model.)

To all whmn it party concern:

Be it known that I, WVARREN H. TAYLOR, of Stamford, in the county of Fail-field and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Keys for Pin-Tumbler Locks; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to an improvement in keys for pin-tumbler locks, and particularly for use with pin-tumbler locks having a curtain or guard which normally obstructs the key-slot and which must be moved by the key before the latter can engage the pin-tumblers, and which when so moved locks the plug to the cylinder and holds it so locked until all the tumblers have been set.

The object of the invention is to so construct a flat key for pin-tumbler locks that when the key is fully inserted the portion of the keyslot normally occupied by the curtain or guard of the lock will be unobstructed by the key,

so that the curtain or guard will be at liberty to assume its normal position, and thus disconnect itself from the cylinder of the lock.

My invention consists in a key for a pintumbler lock provided with bittings on its edge to set the tumblers and with an opening or recess in its side in rear of the bittings to receive the free end of the guard or curtain.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view of a pin-tumbler lock provided with a curtain or guard tumbler. Fig. 2 is a View in side elevation of same, partly in section. Fig. 3 is a view in elevation of the key. Figs. 4: and 5 are views of a modified form of pintumbler lock, and Fig. 6 is a view of the key therefor.

In order to make the operation and function of the key clear, I consider it essential to show and describe a pin-tumbler lock designed for use with the key, and have therefore illustrated and will describe constructions shown and described in my application, Serial No. 166,625, filed by me July 23, 1903.

In this look 1 represents the cylinder of a pin-tumbler lock, 2 the plug, and 3 the ordiin a plane below the lower ends of the tumblers, so that in order to reach the tumblers this sphere or curtain 6 must be moved to one side. Depending into the cavity 5 and resting on the smaller sphere 6 is the guard-tumbler or locking device 7. This tumbler is made in two parts like the ordinary pin-tumbler, but is constructed to closely fit its seat in the plug 2 and in the cylinder 1, so that when the guard-tumbler 7 is moved to a position to lock the plug 2 there can be no movement whatever of the plug within the cylinder. The ordinary tumbler 3 in rear of the guard-tumbler (in the construction disclosed in Figs. 1 and 2, as well as in the other construction) are fitted more loosely than the guard or curtain tumbler 7 so that the plug 2 will when locked have a greater amount of rotary movement than is ordinary, while the guard or curtain tumbler 7 is more tightly fitted, so that when it is brought into play by the action of a picking-tool or otherwise it will lock the plug to its cylinder so closely that the plug cannot be revolved suiiiciently to cause any pressure between the plug 2, the ordinary tumblers 3, and the cylinder 1. \Nith this construction the sphere or curtain 6 guards the entrance to the key-slot 4:, and to reach the pin-tumblers 3 this curtain 6 must be moved out of the path of the key 8, and this is accomplished by beveling the key at one side adjacent to its free end, as at .9, so that when the key is inserted the beveled side engages the larger sphere 6and pushes it laterally and upwardly and elevates the smaller sphere 6, and also the guard-tumbler 7, which rests in contact with said smaller sphere. This elevation of the'guard-tumbler 7 locks the plug to the cylinder. As the key is inserted the bittings on the edge thereof engage the pin-tumblers 3, and when the key has been fully inserted the regular pin-turnblers have been set, so as to permit the plug to turn.

The proper key for the lock is, as shown in Fig. 4, provided at a point in rear of the bittings with the slot 9, which slot when the key is fully inserted rests adjacent to the cavity 5, thus permitting the curtain 6 to fall back into its normal position and guardtumbler 7 to be retracted into the plug. With the parts thus disposed the plug is free to be rotated by the key, and as soon as the key is withdrawn the curtain 6 again gravitates into position across the key-slot 4 and absolutely prevents any access to the pin-tumblers without first causing the plug to be locked by the tumbler 7.

In Figs. 4, 5, and 6 the guard or curtain 15 is in the form of a pin-tumbler and is located below and in line with the key-slot 4t, and the key 8 is provided on its lower edge with a notch 9 in which the guard or curtain 15 rests when the key has been completely inserted.

In the several constructions disclosed the curtain or guards are all below the pin-tumblersthat is to say, are in planes between the ends of the tumblers projecting into the key-slot and the base of the latterhence must necessarily be first actuated before the pin-tumblers become accessible.

By the term flat key used in the claims I mean a key designed to fit in a keyway of less width than the pin-tumblers, and the term is intended to cover and include not only a flat key without grooves or ridges, but also the corrugated key and the paracentric key in which the grooves and projections extend past the center of the key and the key way, such as are now commonly used with the Yale & Towne pin-tumbler locks.

It is evid ent that many slight changes might be resorted to in the relative arrangement of parts shown and described without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention. Hence I would have it understood that I do not wish to confine myself to the exact construction of parts herein shown and described; but,

Having fully described my invention, what' I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is 1. A flat key for a pin-tumbler lock provided with a bevel at its free end to engage and dislodge a curtain or guard, with bittings on its edge to engage and successively set the pin-tumblers and with a recessed section in its body or side to receive the guard or curtain.

2. A flat key for a pin-tumbler lock provided at its free end with a beveled upper edge and a beveled side, with bittings on its edge and with a recessed section in its body or side.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WARREN H. TAYLOR.

Witnesses:

SoHUYLER MERRITT, DENNIS BURNES 

